This archive report was first published on 11 July 2020.
Published on July 11, 2020, the Senate reconvenes to address the revenue sharing formula impasse. The proposed formula, developed by the Commission on Revenue Allocation, aims to enable county governments to share equitably the Sh316.5 billion allocated in the financial year 2020/21.
Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka recalled Senators after Senate Leader of Majority Samuel Poghisio requested a special sitting to consider and approve a report of the Standing Committee on Finance and Budget. The report is crucial in determining how the Sh316.5 billion allocated to counties in the current financial year will be shared among the 47 devolved units.
Article 217 (1) of the Constitution mandates the Senate to determine the formula once every five years. However, the Senate has missed the constitutional deadline of June 30, leading to concerns from President Uhuru Kenyatta, who gave Poghisio a three-day deadline to mobilize support for a new revenue sharing formula for counties.
At least 21 Senators drawn from the arid and semi-arid counties have protested the new proposed formula, saying it will disenfranchise and further marginalize their areas. Ten Governors from frontier counties have also petitioned the national government to shelve, for one year, the implementation of a new revenue sharing formula, citing the revenue cuts caused by the formula will hurt the counties.
